Interview of Linden N. Anderson on her long career in the American Red Cross including service in WWII and the Korean and Vietnam wars Ruth Stewart: Linden Norine Anderson is being interviewed today in San Antonio, Texas, as a par-, part of the Women’s Overseas Service League, uh, project. Today is February 18, 2004, and the interviewer is Ruth Stewart. [0:19] Linden, tell us a little bit to start with about your early life, about where you were born and... Linden Anderson: Mm-hm. Ruth Stewart: ...how you were brought up and something about that. Linden Anderson: Alright. Uh, it's a long story, Ruth, because I was born on January 14, 1908, which means that I am getting towards being a century old. I was born in the little town of... Ruth Stewart: Congregations. Linden Anderson: ...east of Austin called Manor. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And I was the last child in a family of 8 children. I was the youngest. And we moved to Round Rock, Texas, which is a little town just north of Austin, when I was 3 years old, and that’s where I grew up until I was 18. In that town, there were [inaudible 1:10]. It was a Swedish community for the most part, and in that little town, the Swedish people had formed [Old 1:18] Swedish Academy, and it was for high school. And it was farmed so that the Swedish farmers’ children from the whole area of Swedish settlements around Austin and Round Rock and Manor would have a school where they could come as a dormitory and stay there and [inaudible 1:38] the expenses. And the different churches helped provide and keep the, uh, school going. And that’s where I graduated from high school. I don’t g-, I went to high school in the town of Round Rock, but I didn’t graduate from there. And then that little academy became a junior college, so I took a junior college course just, uh, the freshman year, and I got a job teaching school in a little town nearby called Pflugerville, and I taught there for 3 years. Growing up in Round Rock was a real treat because we had a creek, a nice little creek going through there where we could go swimming, and you know a lot of people back in those days didn’t have a place to swim, and we didn’t have manufactured pools. At that time, we went swimming in the river or whatever. So we had a lot of fun. We had a nice park there where we had events. It was quite a nice town. And culturally it was good because we had good teachers in this little academy and good musicians who came there to teach music and voice, piano and organ and so forth. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: So we all – everybody in my family graduated except my 2 w-, older sisters graduated from that little school, and we all took music. We're all very musical. Um, I was playing the piano by the time I was 5 years old, uh, and we all did it. We learned to play by ear, and then we took lessons, and some of my, uh, family members have become quite professional. I, I was not. I didn’t do classical. I just played the plain ol’ piano, which was, uh, very advantageous [to land a 3:34] job that I did later as a, as an employed person. Well I've – it's a little hard to keep from backtracking here. But then I taught – you got a little view of what I did in Round Rock. We were very churched, [inaudible] [religion 3:51]. The whole – well the whole school, the whole school revolved around church, and then we had the – in those days everything we did revolved around church and school. That was our social life. That was our cultural life. It was everything. And we used to g-, get people that would come out from Austin and perform, you know, violinists, [inaudible 4:15], things like that. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: So I, I grew up with some advantages. So I had heard about the town in New Braunfels, which is closer to, uh, close to San Antonio from Austin, and I had been there as a child one day on the excursion train that brought us to that beautiful park in New Braunfels. I think I did that when I was about 6 years old. And our family packed up lunch and put it in a suitcase so we'd have our lunch when we got there. I never did forget that park and that water. I was so impressed by that beautiful clear water where you could see the darn bottom no matter how deep it is. And so I applied for a job to teach there. And you know what? I got the job without any problems whatever. So I went there, and I went in 1929 when I was just 21 years old, and I taught school there until 1939. Ruth Stewart: [5:19] 1929 to 19-...? Linden Anderson: Until 1939. And I had a very good time in that town because, uh, my, eh, being able to sing and also play organ and piano, I, I got mixed up with all those different musical groups in town. So I had a very happy way of life both as to my teaching job and my social life and then volunteering of course. I got in the habit of volunteering early on. I remember even as a kid if they wanted [buy or 5:57] sell anything like cookies, [inaudible 5:59], or whatever, I'd always do it. [throat clearing] I just, uh, I just [inaudible 6:05] anything but said will you do it, and I said yeah, I'll do it. And I'm still kinda the same way but not as much as I was – now the young – now that I'm 96 years old, naturally I've cut down on some things but not a whole lot. Well where do we take it from here now, Ruth? About... Ruth Stewart: [6:27] You said you left New Braunfels’ teaching role... Linden Anderson: Mm-hm. Ruth Stewart: ...in 1939? Linden Anderson: Mm-hm. Ruth Stewart: [6:32] Let's go back and tell me a little bit about the children you taught during that period. Linden Anderson: Alright. Well let's back up to this too: In the meantime, all these years that I had taught school in New Braunfels, I had gone to summer school at the University of Texas in Austin, and finally in 1930, that’s when I left New Braunfels, I decided to just leave that job in spite of the Depression. I didn’t know if I'd ever get another job or not, but I borrowed money on my insurance policy. I could stay at home with my sister without paying rent if I'd help her take care of the – a baby that was coming along so she could do her volunteer work. All worked out beautifully. So I stayed out that year, and I got my degree. Well when I was... Ruth Stewart: [7:19] Your bachelor’s degree? Linden Anderson: Bachelor’s degree in... Ruth Stewart: [7:21] At the University of Texas? Linden Anderson: ...of Texas in education. And before I even took my final exam in January, I had a job to teach school in the Rio Grande Valley in the town of Pharr, P-H-A-R-R, Pharr, and I taught there until the second war started, until the Second World War started, but in New Braunfels – I'll back up a little bit, um, the children – at, at that time, the town had only 7,000 people in it. Almost all of them were decendents of the original settlers that had come there in 1845. So everybody in town was speaking German even then, although they spoke very, very good English too. But anyway, the – some kids started in first grade who had not even, uh, had the opportunity to learn to speak English. But we didn’t worry about any bilingual business. Didn’t hear about it. We just showed him a picture of a cat and the word under it, and they learned it was cat, and before long, we didn’t even realize those children couldn't speak English because they were speaking it. You know children are so quick. These dependents that lived overseas with their military families, whatever country they were in, the small children learned the language, uh, much easier than the parents. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: [Inaudible 8:49] fun to watch children. So but I mostly just taught in the second and third grade. So when I was in Pharr, I taught only the second and third grade down there. Then World War I – II came along, and everybody quit everything they were doing for the war effort, it seemed like. So I, I left Pharr, came back to New Braunfels and found a place to stay. We didn’t have apartments available in those days. We r-, we roomed and boarded in people’s houses. And I went back to the place where I had been before, and I got a job as a civil service worker at Randolph Field for the war effort, and I worked as a file clerk, and that job came easy too. It seemed like all my jobs came very easy. I was, I was just very lucky. I never have been without a job. So the ones I've described here are the only jobs I ever had ‘til I started what I'm gonna tell you about later. Ruth Stewart: Okay. Linden Anderson: So anyway, we're at this point where I was in New Braunfels, and one day I was downtown and I saw a local girl that I had known, while I taught there, in a gray seersucker uniform, and she had a little cross on her patch on her sleeve, and I asked her, I said, “What are you doing?” and she said, uh, “I'm working for the American Red Cross. I'm doing social work at the hospital at Fort Sam Houston.” In the meantime, her husband, to my knowledge, was the first, one of the very first, eh, people served with men who died in that Second World War. He was a pilot stationed at Clark field... Ruth Stewart: Hm. Linden Anderson: ...and she had already had a baby and had become a widow and, and was working. And but she, she was a paid worker over there. And she said, “Linden, you can sing, and you can play. You can do all those things. Why don’t you apply?” So I did. She gave me the Red Cross address in St. Louis, and I applied, and they sent me papers. Of course, they did that to anybody who applied. And those papers were mainly [fit for 11:16] for girls who were going to run the Red Cross Club that they had. And they don’t have those anymore now because Special Services takes care of that part of the, of the program for the service people. But anyway, uh, I – so I filled it out and I thought oh, they won't take me because I, I haven't had any experience in running a dining room or that kind of thing. So they wrote back and said here’s another set of things; you sound like you should be working in hospitals. So I filled out that one. And they wrote me back and said when can you come to St. Louis for an interview? So I did as soon as I could. But I had to take a physical before I could go up there. And went up there, stayed 1 night and a day, came right on back on a train of course, and, uh, I was hired. And then I went home and had to wait ‘til I got a call. Then I got the call to go to, uh, Washington, DC, to the American University. The American Red Cross had taken over a lot of that American University property, gymnasium, classrooms, uh, athletic field, because there were not very many students there. They had all – everybody was in the service. [Inaudible 12:46]... Ruth Stewart: [12:46] What year was... Linden Anderson: ...they were from... Ruth Stewart: [12:48] What year was that? Linden Anderson: I went in 1943. And so I went there and stayed 6 weeks, and that’s where we were trained. They were training the social workers how to do the Red Cross social work, which means taking care of, of, uh, service people’s home problems, and of course, that was a big part of our program. And then we were training along with the doughnut dollies, the girls that took doughnuts and coffee around to all the troops, and then we were also training with the girls who were gonna do club work. We were all getting the same training. So we had to do that for 6 weeks, and it was very strenuous, and a lot of us girls by this time, I'm 33 years old, and a lot of the women who were in there were also, and they were girls from all walks of life, but there were some restrictions. Uh, we had to be college graduates. They had to be sure that they were getting people who were capable and also educated, and, uh, then ano-, there was another stipulation – they would not send a girl overseas unless she was 23. They – I think – my own opinion is that they wanted to be sure that somebody wasn’t coming along just for the adventure, that they meant business. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And I always thought that – I think some of the best recreation workers that we had were the girls who had been teachers because they were used to working with people and working with children. And, uh, I was, uh... Ruth Stewart: Thinking creatively. Linden Anderson: Uh-uh. More so than, than the women who had been businesswomen or had been managers of, uh, departments and department stores. Some were [inaudible 14:38], and some I might say [inaudible 14:41] they were sort of prima donnas and, uh, but they – I don’t know what they did because I don’t know whether they did well after we all separated or not. And then, uh, we had to stay a very long time ‘til we had – we got orders to go overseas. And we didn’t know where we were going, but we do know, did know that we were issued uniforms. If you didn’t get any winter form-, uniforms, you knew you were going to the Far East. So I got winter uniforms, so I knew I was going to England or North Africa or one of those places. So then I had to go up to, uh, Mitchel Field over at – right before Christmas. That’s on Long Island. And there I had to stay during Christmas just for training and work with the girls who were already trained and were already running the program there. And here I am an old country girl from Texas, so I was delighted to be that close to New York City, and one day I just got on a train – I had a day off. We seldom got much time off all through my career even to the end. Time off was, was not always available. But anyway, I just went up by myself in my uniform, and I just looked over New York City, had a good time. Then after we did that, we had to go back to Washington, DC, where we were billeted, and we stayed there until we got orders to go to Camp Kilmer, and that’s in New Jersey, and that’s – when I got there, that’s when I met the other 4 women that I was gonna be going with, and I got my assignment to the 91st General Hospital. Ruth Stewart: [16:35] Kildare, Camp Kildare? Linden Anderson: Camp Kilner, K-I-L-N-E-R, Camp Kilner. That was a big stabling area. And we were there several weeks, and while we were there, we went into New York regularly because we weren't doing any work, but we were in training. While we were there, we had to learn to march, do all the march steps so we could train and do training and get on a boat and get off of a boat. We had to go through a gas chamber. We had, had to climb the ropes up to get off and on a ship if we had to. In other words, we had to do everything that the military people did. And we were billeted right in – mixed in with the nurses and the, uh, physical therapists and the dieticians that were part of the unit. And 91st was a big hospital. I don’t know how many personnel, over 500 I'm sure because it took, it takes a lot of people. We joined them there. And everything they did, we had to do with them. And there was no sleeping in when the other girls – when the nurses had to go out and do [walking 17:47] at 6:00 in the morning, the Red Cross girls got up. We scrubbed latrines and, and swept the floors and did everything they did. And we got to know the girls there well, and we were all – we melded together very well, a lot of us did. And the girls in my, uh, unit, our boss was a young woman, much younger than I was, from, from New York City, and she was a trained social worker, had her degree in social work, and then she had an assistant that had been trained to do it, uh, while we were on our training in, uh, Washington, DC, and then another, eh, woman who was the second recreation worker and then we had a secretary. There were 5 of us, and we were all just 1, 1 group and 1 family, and you know, we got along beautifully together. It's a good thing that, that we did. So we went into Camp Kilmer, and then when we got word, we sailed in March, I believe, of 1944, and we went and – to Europe, and we landed in Glasgow, Scotland. Is this the sort of thing you're after? Ruth Stewart: Sounds good. Linden Anderson: And then from Glasgow, we went to, uh, we Red Cross girls were ordered to go to London, which was a big Red Cross headquarters in, in the ETO. The hospital – we went to Llandudno, Wales. It's right on the ocean. It's L-L-A-N-D-U-D-N-O. Uh, that’s good enough, Llandudno. Anyway, we – that’s where we went, and we had to stay there 4 or 5 weeks waiting to take over our hospital that was located in Oxford. But we girls stayed in London ‘til we got oriented and got more equipment and got more training, and then we had to go back to Wales and join our hospital out there, and we stayed there until we moved down to Oxford. And the Harvard University had put up a hospital in Oxford. Actually, it was in a little suburb of Oxberg-, Oxford, England, and there was one ward after the other. It wasn’t a high-rise hospital. It was all spread out everywhere. And then we had [ramps 20:31] walking in front of all these different buildings, and that was covered, but it wasn’t closed in, and I think – and then we had a lot of Quonset huts. And the Oxford University had furnished and built that, that complex, and they had established it, but they had gone – that whole unit had gone to France, and we moved into it. And that’s where we, uh, worked in there for a year and a half. We never moved ‘til, ‘til we went home. So anyway... Ruth Stewart: [21:03] But that was a hospital there? Linden Anderson: It was a hospital. It... Ruth Stewart: [21:06] Now that wasn’t the 91st General... Linden Anderson: That... Ruth Stewart: ...[was it 21:09]? Linden Anderson: It became the 91st when we moved into it. Ruth Stewart: [21:11] It, it became that? Linden Anderson: I don’t know what it had been referred when the h-, Harvard Unit had it. Of course, eh... Ruth Stewart: [21:19] And then what did you do with the patients or the – what was your role when you were working in that hospital? Linden Anderson: Alright. My role was to provide recreation for them. Uh, and one of the first things we did was to get British volunteers, women in there. So it was a 2-, 2,000-bed hospital, and we usually ran around 1,700 patients. And it depended on what was going on in Europe whether we had a big insurge of patients or whether we, uh, it, it would go down a little bit. Eh, we were there – they had cleared out that hospital almost completely for us to move into it. The only patients that were there were probably just ordinary servicemen who had had appendectomies or had flu or pneumonia or bronchitis or whatever. And after we – but we had to take a little time to get moved in there and settled in, and we Red Cross girls cleaned up after who - [to follow 22:27], find out what was there, what, what equipment have we got on hand, and we then have a big hall and at the end of that was a place that we could have a craft shop, and at the other end of it, there was a library, well-equipped [inaudible 22:42] these people had been there for a couple of years, and we didn’t have to start it. We, we inher-, inherited all those good things. And that recreation hall was in the sort of middle, so the patients who were able to walk were able to get there, and they were always under cover but not, not out of the cold. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: But anyway, they, they used the hall a lot because it had a pool table in it and, and a ping pong table and the craft shop where they could make things, and mostly our – we, uh, the volunteers, the women, uh, British volunteers are the ones that ran that. But my other recreation [staff and 23:25] the one who was mostly responsible for the craft shop and the, uh, library. My thing was to do the big parties, the [holiday 23:39] stuff because I played the piano and I sang, and I was used to – well I've always sort of been into drama and stuff. And so I had more, uh, of a bent toward activities like that than Helen did, but she did her part. Well we all had to take turns at doing the Bingo games and running the parties. We all, we, we both did all of it. And we, eh, you might wonder what you're doing with recreation at a military hospital, but remember that some of these guys were there for a long time even overseas. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And they're, they're worried. They're upset. They're blue. They're hungry for home. So somebody’s got to take care of that, and when you're working with sick people, nurses and doctors don’t have time to fool with people’s personal problems, so that’s where our social workers came in. Ruth Stewart: [24:36] So you were really dealing as much as anything with morale then? Linden Anderson: Morale, uh-uh. I would say that was what we were there for, diversion and co-, and morale. Well when we'd get in a whole bunch of patients, like 500 or 600 at a time, all of us girls had to help – have – give out the toilet articles, and we could give out cigarettes in those days. You can't now, [couldn't 24:58] a long time. And that was a lot of work, but the women helped us good. Our volunteers came and did all that with us. Ruth Stewart: [25:05] And so the British women were volunteers? Linden Anderson: Yeah. Ruth Stewart: [25:08] They weren't paid? Linden Anderson: No. They were just volunteers. We had a smock that they wore that we provided for them. And, uh, they would, they would help us. And they were also good at helping with the crafts and the book cart and all that. And my, my counterpart kinda took care of the volunteers more than I did. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: I was more into taking them on the off-post trips. See, we had a lot of patients that are v-, that are ambulatory. They have their teeth wired. They, they'd have their arm in a sling. They're not fit for duty. They're there to either get well and go back to duty or not to get well and to be sent home. And, and they were on crutches and wheelchairs. But we could get those people on a bus that was made available to us. Our commanding officer wanted those guys to get as much out of seeing England as they could. He was a wonderful man, and he certainly was symptomatic towards our program. Ruth Stewart: [26:10] Do you remember his name? Linden Anderson: Yeah. Dr. Lester Dyke, Colonel Lester... Ruth Stewart: [26:14] [Inaudible 26:14] Lester...? Linden Anderson: D-Y-K-E. He wrote a wonderful book about our, our hospital and called it the Oxford Angels. It's a wonderful book. So we could have that bus any time we wanted as long as we had it back in time for 6:00 to take what they called the run to town for the staff going into town on, on that bus at 6:00 and come back on the 10:00 bus, so they could to movies... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...or have dates with British girls, whatever. But anyway, our off-base trips were very time consuming because we'd be gone all day. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And we took trips up and down the, uh, Thames River. Every week we could take 10 patients on a trip down the river that the, eh, well they called it the Women’s, uh, [inaudible 27:14]. I don’t know what the women called [inaudible 27:18] – what they call it in England anymore. We’d call it the women’s club or something like that. But they were the women that did, did stuff. And their club in Oxford would provide the money, and they helped us get all kinds of tickets to shows or even symphony concerts in town. And we were taking patients, it seemed like off base, off base. I did that ‘til the day I retired. I was taking patients that we got free tickets for... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...no matter whether I was stationed overseas or, or in, uh, in the uni-, uh, in the United States. We still carried that program out. And even until I retired and worked in hospitals in the continental United States, we were still doing the same program, and it was still just as valuable. We’d take coffee carts through. If we had celebrities, we had to escort them through and all the USO people. Movie stars came. While I was in England, the Queen Mother, she was a queen then, came to our hospital. I met her personally and talked to her about 5 minutes. That was a very important time. We had people like Glen Miller, eh, movie stars, well you name it. And that took a lot of our time because, see, the military did not fool with that. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: Eh, it was up to us to get 'em met at the plane. It was up to us to get 'em to the base or wherever, and it was up to us to take care of, take them through the hospital. Some of 'em would be sick, and we'd have to see that they saw a doctor and they'd want to know where the PX or where could we go, and I'd take 'em to the mess hall. So you can see we had – we were needed because, eh, eh, a nurse doesn’t have time to fool with that. And if we were gonna have a photographer come and take patients’ pictures, we had to work up that ahead of time and find out which patients we thought would be the most representative for picture taking, and we'd have to get their written consent and then we'd have to be sure that the nurses had 'em all cleaned up, so they’d look good in their robes and pajamas and that their bedside table looked decent. [throat clearing] It might take a whole day to tend to just, just a program like that. [throat clearing] Excuse me. So I don’t know. Why don’t you ask me some questions because I cannot think of everything in a hurry? Ruth Stewart: Well this has been very, very interesting to hear about all the variety of things that you were involved with then. [30:02] What did you personally gain from it, from doing this work with the Red Cross and [the] [inaudible 30:09]... Linden Anderson: Oh, I take pride in myself that I was able to do that and not ever get too tired at it or tired of it. [throat clearing] I just loved those guys. And I, I'm a, sort of a corny Texan, and so I, I was kinda corny with them too, [chuckle] but it made them feel at home with me, you know. Ruth Stewart: There were more country boys in the service that anything else. Linden Anderson: Oh, and that’s why our program was accepted so well. They were used to hayrides. They were used to, uh, box suppers and things like that, country life. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: They didn’t have no aspiration for anything much beyond what they already knew. Ruth Stewart: Yeah. Linden Anderson: They were wonderful guys... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...and, of course, they were young. They were away from home. And one of the most valuable, uh, entertainments we had was a local dancing teacher. [throat clearing] She and I became wonderful friends. And she would bring her dancing kids out there, and somebody said you don’t want to bring kids to the hospital do you? I said well let's try it. And she was bringing the 2 and 3-year-old kids that were taking ballet and then the other kids, you know, older, dancing kids. She brought the best program. And the patients just loved it. See, we all had children back home, little toddlers. They left all of that. And it was such a part, a big – they, they’d throw 'em candy on the stage and gum and things. See, the British didn’t have any of that, and so boy, honey, did we ever share our rations with the-, with those, uh, English people. Ruth Stewart: [Inaudible 32:03]. Linden Anderson: And those kids would go home with pockets full of candy. They'd throw it up on the stage. I was real proud. We have – well sometimes we even got our show-, own shows up with some of those guys. I remember Gene Krupa’s brother was a patient when he was an ambulatory, and we got up a stage show while he was there. We didn’t even have any music. We just all played by ear. And I played the piano, and, and of course, Special Services, uh, would provide the, uh, instruments. We provided ukuleles and, uh, radio and, uh, um, guitars. Those were the things. But Red Cross did send us all the latest songs, hit songs and things, but, but for the most part, we couldn’t – we wouldn't be able to play that kind of stuff. We just played things like, uh, I'll Be Comin’ Around the Mountain, you know Corn. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And so we didn’t have to have music for that. We could just do that. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: So once in a while, all through the years, I'd do a little of that. Ruth Stewart: Linden, you did some wonderful things obviously for these young people that were over there in your 91st Hosp-, 91st General Hospital. Linden Anderson: Mm-hm. Ruth Stewart: [33:22] How was your life? What did you do along with your other Red Cross friends that were there? How did you live? What was your recreation? Linden Anderson: O-, okay. Well we lived in a nice building along with the nurses. [coughing] We worked so much at night, and we worked 10 and 12 hours many days, and we usually worked maybe 2 weeks, and then we'd have maybe 3 days off if we could plan it that way and if there wasn’t something special that we just needed to be there. We were very flexible ‘cause we didn’t have any families to go see and – or come to see us. So we would take advantage and go to – into Oxford and go to shows, but mainly run down to London, but we were not supposed to go to London because of the air raids, but we went anyway. Maybe you ought not put that in there. But we went. Ruth Stewart: I think, I think that’s [inaudible 34:20]. Linden Anderson: But we would go. We’d, we’d take our chances. We didn’t, we didn’t overdo it, but we took our chances and went. And when we were there, uh, we would sightsee as much as we possibly could, and then through places where I took the patients, all through the Oxford colleges and to Sulgrave Manor, a place that George Washington’s ancestors were from. We took 'em there regularly. So I got to see that along with the patients. We went up to Windsor Castle. I saw that. And we went up to, uh, where they have the, uh, regatta. Uh, all the sudden I can't remember the name, you know, of the town where they have the regatta, eh, the boat races every year. Ruth Stewart: Boat races. Linden Anderson: I just don’t know why I can't recall the name. And we took 'em on picnics and the mess hall would fixed up a lunch. So I got a lot of my sightseeing through this – working with the patients. And then we had quite a bit of [interplay 35:21] with, with our volunteers. They would invite us to their homes. And one volunteer was young. She was quite well-fixed, and they had a car and how they got gas I don’t know, [throat clearing] but every, every so often, she’d – they’d come and get me and take me places with them. Her father was an [Aquarian 35:46] boot dealer in London, but they moved to Oxford to get out of the bombing, just like they moved – all the blind people had to be moved out of London, and we had a whole bunch of that. One of our best entertainers was a blind man. He played a marvelous piano, and he and Alec Tem-, Templeton were, were good friends. They both did the same thing. You could, you could tell George to do a piano concerto on, uh, Johnny Comes Marching Home, and he’d just sit right there and play it. And he’d come down and play a lot. He was one of my best friends. Uh, but I’d have to go get him in a jeep, see that he got back. We, we had to arrange for transportation. We had to do all of this. Everything connected with our program, we did it. But the army [would would have no idea 36:37] how they cooperated with us. Well all – I, I, I [had that 36:44] even to the day I resigned. I mean that I retired. Wonderful cooperation with the staff. So my social life there, we had a lot of fun at our officers’ club. W-, they’d be a dance almost every Friday night. Eh, most – a lot of 'em would be on duty, but you may not be on duty the next time they had one. And mainly we just had an awful lot of fun with each other, just all of us were billeted in one place, and, uh, we saw each other. But everybody was busy, you know? So I would say that I had a good social life. And a lot of girls, a lot of nurses met their future husbands, but it wasn’t for – so easy for me because, see, I was – by this time, I'm 35 years old. The men are all married. So there weren't very many available men, so I didn’t have the opportunity to try to find somebody. But s-, a lot of our young Red Cross girls did, uh, marry and stayed married. A lot of [inaudible 37:54]. And I've kept up with the 91st General. To this day, we have 1 man who sends around a newsletter, and I have been to [3 38:04] reunions that we had. But the reunions were getting so small, and by this time, it was mostly, uh, the men and their wives coming, and I would say 500 or 600 people. But the first reunions were very well attended, but I, I was overseas most of that time, so I attended only after I got older and came back to the States to work. But I have worked in, uh, [inaudible] [health 38:40] and places I've worked. Ruth Stewart: You... Linden Anderson: I'm sorry. You have another question first. Ruth Stewart: [28:45] Then you were in England then until when? Linden Anderson: Uh, yeah, we came back in 19, uh, 45. Ruth Stewart: [38:58] After the war was over? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh. And we, eh, see after the war was over, then we started getting the POWs. So the war was over in May, something like that, and... Ruth Stewart: In Europe. Linden Anderson: ...and so then we were getting all these POWs. Most of them were walking. By the time we had gotten them, they had already been through a few stages, and they were sent to us to finish up and send them home. Ruth Stewart: [39:23] But that was in England, [correct 39:24]? Linden Anderson: That was in e-, uh-huh. So, eh, the war was over in May, and we operated there ‘til we moved out in, uh, September or October of, uh, 1945. But things were quieter, but we still had to take care of our own sick. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: You know? And all the other – of course, everybody was beginning to move out, but we still had troops there, so they had – we had to keep up, but the whole group, then that – the 91st moved to Germany, and I didn’t go with them. I came home. Some of us came home. I joined another hospital just, just for the purpose of coming back home. So I came home in November of ’45. Ruth Stewart: [40:12] And did you stay in the Red Cross? Linden Anderson: No. Went home and got out of the Red Cross because all of us were being let out, and I went to Houston and got a job and started teaching school to a school in Houston. And I didn’t like it. Uh, kids were naughty. Their fathers had been gone. Their mothers had all been working. It was a – that’s [that world 40:37], you know, and it was – teaching was very difficult. So I quit teaching [chuckle] again, and I went out to San Francisco to see my sister whose husband was in the military, and I got another job out there and was the same ol’ file clerk as the other jobs, and I hadn't done that but 6 weeks ‘til I got a letter from the Red Cross will you come back. Ruth Stewart: Oh. Linden Anderson: Then found out that we are not through. We've got to start manning these hospitals in the States and manning these hospitals where we're doing the occupation. So we wanta send you to the Far East. So I got on a train [laughter] and went back to Washington, DC, and got re-uniformed. I'd given all my uniforms away. Got re-uniformed and had a little more training for what we were gonna do, and by 19 – [or was it 41:45] – ’46, I was in, in Korea, and I stayed there 2 years, and then I stayed in Japan a year, and then I got sent home, and then I got sent back, eh, and I went into the Korean war. I was in Korea during the war, but I was the only worker there. I did all of it. I had to do the social work. I didn’t have time for recreation there. I had to, eh, I didn’t even have a secretary. And what we had all done all through the years was write letters for patients. It was absolutely endless. And after a big influx of patients, our social worker, the gal who was the head of our unit, would say girls, we've all got to write letters, so we’d just let the recreation sit for a few days so we could do the personal, help them with their letter writing. And then I came back and went to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Ruth Stewart: [42:53] When you were in Korea, what was it like to live there? Linden Anderson: Well I was there 3 years, 2 years during the, uh, occupation [inaudible 43:02] cold. Ruth Stewart: Oh, so... Linden Anderson: It was rough. Yeah. Uh, there wasn’t electricity. We didn’t have any heat in our billet, and it was 0 weather. The hospital was cold. The – I was in Seoul. The hospital was a converted 7 or 8 story department store. And it was a challenge there because, uh, it was cold. It was miserable. We didn’t have any running water, no flush toilets. Uh, we had to use a pan with water every time. But we did have maids to clean our rooms and did our washing. We had no beauty shop. We looked awful. My hair looked just terrible. [chuckle] But there that’s when we had fun though, more dating and more partying and – on your time off. A little better – a little more time for social life because we could schedule our time off a little better. But we ran the same program, crafts, off-base trips, parties, Bingo, lounge activities and had an awful lot of little coffee hours for 'em, and the whole staff would come by on those mornings we had coffee hour, and our – we had dependents that would supply homemade cookies through the years. Ruth Stewart: [44:40] So then you went to Japan after Seoul? Linden Anderson: Eh, well, yeah. I finished off – I finished... Ruth Stewart: [44:48] Or did you just go there to [inaudible 49:49]? Linden Anderson: I stayed in Korea 2 years. Ruth Stewart: Uh-huh. Linden Anderson: That – no. Let's not get this mixed up. We were through with the war, Korean War. Ruth Stewart: Okay. Linden Anderson: And then I went back to Japan, and then I came home and that’s when I went to Fort Sill. This is hard to keep track of, eh, without backtracking. [laughter] Ruth Stewart: [45:12] Japan was just for you to come home? It wasn’t a station? Linden Anderson: No. I stayed a year. Ruth Stewart: Oh. [45:19] From year... Linden Anderson: Um... Ruth Stewart: ...1948 to...? Linden Anderson: Oh. Oh. I don’t know. Let's see [inaudible 45:24]. Ruth Stewart: Okay. Linden Anderson: No. By this time, eh, at that time I think I came home in ’53. It's a little bit hard for me to – I'm getting so mixed up on when I was there and when I wasn’t. I came back home from Japan the second time in 1953. [throat clearing] And that’s when I went to Fort Sill and stayed 4 years. Same program, same activities. We had a small staff there, just 3. Ruth Stewart: [46:16] And that’s where you retired? Linden Anderson: No. Ruth Stewart: [46:19] No? Linden Anderson: No. Then from Fort Sill, I went to, eh, Tripoli, Libya for a year to an air base there. So 1 year. And then... Ruth Stewart: [46:39] Do you remember what year that was? Linden Anderson: Eh, ’57. Ruth Stewart: [46:44] You went there in ’57? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh, in 1957. And then I went to Germany in 1958. Ruth Stewart: [46:58] So you really got around? Linden Anderson: Yeah. And then I came – when I left Germany, I went to Wichita Falls, Sheppard Air Force Base in, uh, ’61 I guess. And then they sent me back to, uh, Korea in fif-, 1966. Ruth Stewart: [47:31] Third time in Korea? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh. And then, uh, just for a year, then to Japan for 2 years. Ruth Stewart: [47:42] Again? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh. And then home to the naval air station in Corpus Christi, Texas. And all this time I'm still doing the same thing that I did but just different people. Of course, in Japan, we were in the Vietnam War those last 2 years in Japan, and we had a terrific amount of work there. We had 3 evac hospitals to cover plus the, the regular hospital for Tachikawa Air Base. And one of them was 5 or 6 miles away over horrible, heavy, heavy Japanese traffic. You would have to go over there. And, oh, we got – I think one day, gosh, 300 or 400 patients. I never will forget that day. It was snowing. Oh, it was awful to get all those patients. We worked hard in Japan. I didn’t go to Vietnam. But [we were 49:00] getting patients from down there. And our – we were getting patients strictly for the purpose of sending them back home. And we had 3 different hospitals that we were using for that purpose, but some of them were too sick, and we had to keep them in one of the evac hospitals. One had to be incorporated into the [inaudible 49:23]. And some were too sick. Some of them might even have died there. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: But most of the patients that we got then came to us for the purpose of getting sent home. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: And we had American volunteers. We had about 100 women d-, dependents that did our volunteer work. They rubbed the backs. They cleaned the beds. They fed the patients. We didn’t have time much to do anything but take care of those volunteers. But at the same time, over at that regular hospital, we had a lot of recreation going, the usual. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: But we had a bigger staff there. I think there were about 7 of us on the staff then. We had 3 social workers and 4 [inaudible 50:14] workers and a local [hired 50:16] secretary. So we had more people. So – but by this time, I'm already 60 years old, you know, so my social life was – didn’t have much. The main thing was going everywhere when you have time off, going to Tokyo, going to see the sites... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...mainly. Ruth Stewart: [50:44] So then when did you retire from the Red Cross? Linden Anderson: I retired from naval air station in Corpus Christi in 1973. Ruth Stewart: [50:58] With the Red Cross do you get benefits with them... Linden Anderson: Yes. Ruth Stewart: ...when you retire? Is that... Linden Anderson: I get Red Cross, I get Red Cross retirement and along with Social Security. Ruth Stewart: [51:16] And does that provide for healthcare? Linden Anderson: Yeah. I had benefits through that like dental and, and, um, medication, drugs. Ruth Stewart: Okay. [51:31] So this is a supplement to... Linden Anderson: Yeah. Ruth Stewart: ... Medicare then? Linden Anderson: Yeah. Ruth Stewart: [51:34] Was it intended that way or if you were [inaudible 51:35]? Linden Anderson: No. I – No. I pay for it, of course, you know. Ruth Stewart: Yeah. Linden Anderson: But through Red Cross... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...not through – of course, I get Medicare... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...through my Social Security. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: But I get the dental and the drug program. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: It gets, uh, they take that out of my salary each month. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. [51:54] So now you're retired back in New Braunfels? Linden Anderson: Mm-hm. Yeah. I... Ruth Stewart: [51:57] Things come full circle don’t they? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh. I decided to move back there because I knew everybody. Ruth Stewart: [52:05] And when did you – did you go back there in ’73, right away? Linden Anderson: Uh-huh. And I've lived there since. But my next of kin live in Austin. But by this time, I'm the only one left in the family, and I'm depending on my niece, you know, to take care of me in my old age, [chuckle] and they're hoping I don’t get too much old-... Ruth Stewart: [52:27] You're gonna get old? Linden Anderson: They're hoping I don’t get too much older. Ruth Stewart: [laughter] So okay then. [52:34] You retired there and you still lead a very active life from here? Linden Anderson: Yes. I've done a lot of volunteer work. But not Red Cross. But don’t put that in there. You know? Ruth Stewart: [laughter] Okay. Linden Anderson: I decided to do – almost all of us need something... Ruth Stewart: [52:48] You [need 52:48 ] something different? Linden Anderson: Yeah. Something different. Ruth Stewart: [52:51] And you’ve gotten a lot of awards for that in New Braunfels? Linden Anderson: Yeah. They’ve been awfully good to me. The Chamber of Commerce, I don’t know where it came from, but it's all in, in this... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...mess if you want to look at stuff. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Yeah. Well we will [want that 53:11]. Yeah. Well this has been very, very interesting. [53:15] Do you have anything that you'd like to say about your overall life with the Red Cross? Linden Anderson: Well I'd like to say that I've stayed single, but I've had a very rewarding life being single, and I've never felt, uh, any concern about, uh, being single because I, I've been so happy, and I've been so fulfilled in the type of work that I've been doing that that’s filled my life to the fullest. Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Mm-hm. Well we certainly appreciate your taking time [inaudible 53:50] to get this story down for us and for the history of women, which is important to go to the Library of Congress. Women’s history, as you know, sometimes hasn’t gotten its full attention, so. Linden Anderson: That’s right. Ruth Stewart: We do appreciate that. Yeah. Linden Anderson: That's – I think so, and I think, eh, it's time that we are, uh, coming to the front, and I hope that some people will start writing books about the civilian women’s effort, especially in the Second World War, the women who worked in factories... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...and who gave up good jobs... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...uh, to do government things to be helpful, to – like to fold parachutes and things like that. Uh, I hope that sooner or later they will get some. And I think it's good now that we have a few people like Tom Brokaw... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...who are writing about the Greatest Generation... Ruth Stewart: Mm-hm. Linden Anderson: ...group of people. Ruth Stewart: Well thank you very, very much. /lo